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REESE  LIBRARY 

'  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


,190     . 
Accession  No.     ..oOjLbo  .   Class  No. 


JV1  ilitary  Lance 

Line  Construction 


CHANDLER 


Military 
Lance  Line  Construction* 


For 


Semi  permanent  Field  Telegraph  and 
Telephone  Lines. 


By 

CHAS.  DeF.  CHANDLER, 

First  Lieutenant  and  Signal  Officer  First  Battalion 
Engineers,  O.  N.  G.,  Late  Signal  Corps*  IL  S.  V, 


UNIFORM  CO. 

19  AND  21  WEST  3lsr.  ST.  N.Y. 
TELEPHONE  1000  «5l?AM. 


Copyright  1900 

By  Hudson-Kimberly   Publishing  Co., 
Kansas   City,    Mo. 


PREFACE. 


This  manual  for  military  lance  line  construction  is 
prepared  because  of  the  lack  of  any  modern  work  on 
this  subject.  The  author,  while  serving  as  a  signal  ofti 
cer  of  volunteers  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  tried 
this  plan  of  organization  for  lance  line  squads  at  ramps 
Alger,  Meade,  and  Mackenzie,  and  through  Cuban  jun 
gle,  and  the  remarks  are  called  for  from  experiences 
found  at  these  places.  The  variable  numbers  and  posi- 
tions of  the  men  in  a  squad  were  also  found  necessary 
to  meet  different  conditions.  A  test  of  this  method  was 
made  at  Camp  Alger,  Va.,  during  the  Spanish-American 
War,  when  six  signal  corps  men  constructed  a  half-mile 
of  lance  line,  made  ground  connections,  attached  tele- 
phones, and  communicated  in  twenty-eight  minutes. 

C.  DeF.  ('. 
Cleveland,  O.,  May  17.  1900. 


MILITARY  LANCE  LINE  CONSTRUCTION. 


A  squad  for  lance  line  construction  should  consist  of 
one  sergeant,  one  rod-man,  two  reel-men,  one  lance  truck 
assistant,  two  bar-men  and  two  line-men,  all  being  under 
command  of  a  commissioned  officer.  Their  duties  are 

as  follows: 

THE  SERGEANT. 

The  sergeant  should  be  one  who  is  experienced  in 
lance  construction.  He  lays  out  the  course  which  the 
line  is  to  take  and  is  practically  the  surveyor.  His 
judgment  must  decide  the  most  advantageous  route 
and  the  proper  angle  when  there  is  a  change  of  direc- 
tion. If  the  line  is  to  be  constructed  hurriedly,  there 
should  be  as  few  changes  in  direction  and  as  little 
clearing  done  as  possible.  The  sergeant  stands  at  the 
stake  at  the  angle  and  carefully  directs  each  new 
rom-se.  He  sends  the  rod-man  in  the  direction  ordered 
and  lines  him  in  as  he  advances,  planting  a  stake  at 
every  fifty  paces. 

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THE  ROD-MAN. 

The  rod-man  carries  a  light  crow-bar,  or  in  sandy  soil, 
a  sharp  stick  about  five  feet  long,  a  haversack  of  small 
wooden  stakes,  or  marking  pins  made  of  iron  wire 
painted  white.  The  bar  or  stick  is  used  the  same  as  a 
surveyor's  rod.  When  he  has  advanced  fifty  paces  he 
turns  and  faces  the  sergeant,  who  lines  him  in  by  mo- 
tions of  his  hand  on  either  side.  When  the  alignment 
is  correct,  he  drops  his  bar  straight  down,  making  a 
small  hole,  in  which  he  places  a  marking  pin.  Then 
counting  from  that  place,  advance  another  fifty  paces 
and  repeat  the  operation.  In  case  fifty  paces  would 
bring  the  pole  in  the  middle  of  a  roadway,  it  should  be 
placed  on  the  side  of  the  road  making  less  than  fifty 
paces. 

THE  REEL  MEN. 

Two  men  should  watch  the  reel,  when  unreeling 
from  a  wagon,  and  carry  or  "buck"  (Fig.  5)  the  reel 
when  going  through  places  impassable  for  a  wagon. 
The  wire  must  follow  the  line  of  marking  stakes  as 
rapidly  as  it  can  be  laid.  In  case  the  number  of  men 
for  the  work  must  be  reduced,  one  man  can  attend  the 

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reel  instead  of  two,  but  in  "bucking,"  he  must  be  assist- 
ed by  the  lance  truck  assistant.  When  there  is  much 
of  the  "bucking"  to  be  done,  the  extra  man  at  the  reel 
cannot  be  dispensed  with.  The  reel  must  not  be  al- 
lowed to  spin  and  unwind  an  excess  of  wire,  or  it  will 
easily  become  tangled  and  frequently  catch  in  the  coil 
while  unwinding.  The  reel-man  must  be  on  the  alert 
and  have  the  driver  stop  the  instant  a  tangle  or  catch 
occurs,  to  prevent  pulling  the  reel  and  attendants  off  the 
wagon. 

THE  LANCE  TRUCK  ASSISTANT. 

The  lance  truck  assistant  accompanies  the  truck, 
and  deposits  a  pole  with  insulator  attached  at  each 
marking  stake.  Every  fifth  insulator  should  be  a  tie  or 
ram's  horn  insulator  (Fig.  1).  If  the  lances  are  carried 
in  the  same  wagon  as  the  reel,  he  accompanies  that 
wagon  with  the  same  duties.  Care  must  be  used  in 
throwing  down  the  poles  so  as  not  to  break  or  damage 
the  insulators. 

THE  BAR  MEN. 

The  bar-men,  with  crow-bars,  make  a  hole  at  each 
marking  stake,  put  the  wire  on  the  insulators,  plant  the 

5 


pole  and  tamp  the  ground  firmly  around  it.  In  sandy 
soil,  it  is  necessary  to  plant  the  pole  at  least  twenty 
inches  deep.  In  hard  ground  fifteen  inches  is  sufficient. 
The  two  bar-men  take  alternate  poles  and  when  a  tie  or 
ram's  horn  insulator  is  reached,  both  men  work  on  that 
pole  together,  one  pulling  the  wire  taut,  the  other  at- 
taching it  to  the  insulator.  When  wood  or  wire  mark 
ing  pins  are  used,  the  bar-men  preserve  them  and  send 
them  forward  to  the  rod-man  at  every  opportunity. 
Some  soil  may  be  found  which  is  rocky  or  baked  hard  by 
the  sun.  Here  the  bar-men  must  be  reinforced  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  keep  this  section  of  the  construc- 
tion party  from  delaying  those  following. 

THE  LINE-MEN. 

The  line-men  will  carry  a  small  coil  of  wire,  an  axe, 
porcelain  insulators,  pliers  and  climbers.  They  follow 
in  rear  of  the  bar-men  and  put  on  the  guy  wrire  to  brace 
the  pole  at  each  change  of  direction.  As  there  is  great 
danger  of  the  rubber  insulators  breaking,  a  small  porce- 
lain insulator  should.be  wired  to  the  top  of  the  pole 
(Fig.  3)  in  place  of  the  rubber  insulator  where  the  line 
changes  direction  at  any  angle  greater  than  30°  (Fig. 
7).  Much  time  can  be  saved  and  it  is  to  their  advant- 


age  for  the  line-men  to  keep  up  with  the  bar-men  if  pos- 
sible. The  porcelain  insulator  is  wired  to  the  pole  so 
that  the  line  wire  wrill  run  in  the  groove  of  the  insulator. 
Jn  crossing  a  road  where  there  is  a  lead  of  permanent 
poles,  a  porcelain  or  glass  insulator  should  be  put  on 
the  pole  a  few  feet  higher  than  the  tops  of  the  lance 
poles.  This  will  serve  to  keep  the  wire  from  falling 
across  the  road  in  case  of  accident  to  the  line  and  above 
the  tops  of  any  exceptionally  high  vehicles.  Whenever 
a  tree  or  pole  is  in  the  line  of  the  proper  pull-off  at  a 
change  of  direction,  the  pull-off  wire  should  be  secured 
at  the  height  of  the  top  of  the  lance  pole.  This  pre- 
\  nits  any  tendency  of  the  pole  to  bend,  also  relieves  the 
danger  of  any  breakage  of  the  guy  wire  through  acci- 
dents or  stakes  pulling  out.  A  small  bush  is  better 
to  guy  the  pull-off  to  than  a  stake,  as  it  is  not  in  danger 
ot  pulling  out  in  wet  weather.  Where  the  line  has  few 
changes  of  direction,  and  little  clearing  of  branches 
from  the  wire,  one  line-man  is  sufficient. 


TAKING  UP  A  LANCE  LINE. 

Taking  up  a  lance  line  requires  but  four  men  with 
duties  as  follows. 

A  line-man  precedes  the  reel  wagon  and  pulls  up  each 
pole,  takes  the  wire  off  the  insulator,  leaving  both  on 
the  ground  for  the  wagon-men  following  to  pick  up. 
All  guy  wires  must  be  cut  from  the  poles. 

A  truck  assistant  accompanies  the  wagon  and  puts 
the  dismantled  poles  and  insulators  thereon, — first  un- 
screwing the  insulator  to  prevent  its  being  broken. 

Two  men  reel  up  the  wire  as  the  wagon  advances  or 
"buck"  the  reel  in  places  which  are  impassable  for  the 
wagon. 

SUGGESTIONS. 

It  will  often  be  found  necessary  to  increase  the  force 
of  line-men  with  several  additional  men  to  clear  away 
branches,  brush  and  vines  from  the  wire.  Machetes  are 
the  best  tool  for  this  work  and  should  be  obtained  if 
possible. 

Much  time  may  be  lost  in  cutting  down  trees  or  in 
climbing  to  cut  away  branches.  A  light  pole,  with  a 
crotch  at  the  end  and  long  enough  to  reach  above  the 

8 


wire,  can  be  used  to  good  advantage.  Put  the  interfer- 
ing branches  in  the  crotch  and  twist  the  pole  around 
until  the  branches  break  off. 

The  sergeant  should  take  care  to  run  the  line  near  a 
permanent  pole  if  crossing  a  road  with  a  lead,  so  the 
wire  can  be  secured  to  it. 

The  kind  of  marking  stakes  used  will  depend  entire- 
1\  on  the  nature  of  the  ground  over  which  the  line  is  to 
be  passed.  In  tall  grass,  wire  marking  pins  will  not  do, 
and  sticks  about  three  feet  long  will  be  required. 

In  crossing  a  road  which  is  on  a  ridge  with  the  slope 
down  on  each  side,  a  pole  should  be  placed  on  each  side 
of  the  road  with  tie  insulators  on  each  to  prevent  the 
line  from  sagging  too  low  in  the  road,  also  to  prevent 
the  wire  from  falling  in  case  of  accident  to  the  line  on 
either  side. 

In  crossing  a  much-traveled  road,  roads  in  sandy 
locality  or  roads  used  by  unusually  high  vehicles,  the 
wire  should  be  raised  higher  by  binding  two  lances  to- 
gether with  wire  to  make  the  pole  about  eight  feet 
longer  (Fig.  4). 

Where  there  is  plenty  of  construction  material  on 
hand,  a  line  can  be  more  economically  and  rapidly  con- 
structed and  easier  taken  up  if  it  runs  along  the  side  of 

9 


a  wagon  trail  or  road,  than  to  "buck"  the  reel  across 
country,  carry  the  lances  and  cut  away  branches  in 
order  to  shorten  the  line. 

In  clear  country  the  rod-man  can  continue  marking 
the  line  in  the  same  direction  without  assistance  from 
the  sergeant  by  lining  himself  in  with  two  marking  pins 
in  the  rear. 

It  is  difficult  to  construct  a  line  in  a  heavy  fog  or 
smoke  unless  the  rod-man  can  see  the  last  two  poles 
erected  and  line  in  on  them.  If  not,  large  white  signal 
flags  may  be  advantageously  used. 

The  sections  of  a  construction  party  should  work  as 
near  together  as  possible,  as  it  often  occurs  that  the 
line-men  or  rod-men  will  run  out  of  material,  and  if  far 
apart,  much  delay  is  occasioned  in  bringing  it  up. 

The  officer  in  charge  of  the  squad  should  arrange 
the  number  of  men  for  each  section  of  the  construction 
party,  according  to  the  conditions  of  the  country;  and 
change  whenever  necessary.  He  should  visit  each  sec- 
tion frequently,  and  when  any  are  behind,  have  the  de- 
linquent section  reinforced  until  it  can  keep  up.  For 
example:  If  the  bar-men  are  slow  and  the  line-men 
wait  for  them,  one  of  the  line-men,  or  a  man  from  the 
reel,  should  be  detailed  at  once  to  help  out  the  de- 

10 


linquents.  The  officer  should  also  see  that  the  line-men 
are  supplied  with  insulators  and  wire  before  the  supply 
is  exhausted.  This  may  be  done  by  having  some 
dropped  off  the  line  wagon  with  the  poles  at  convenient 
intervals.  The  officer  should  reconnoiter  in  advance 
and  advise  the  sergeant  of  the  best  route  to  take  when 
the  course  has  not  been  previously  examined  and  laid 
out. 

When  the  number  of  signal-men  is  insufficient,  other 
detailed  soldiers  may,  with  a  little  instruction,  be  used 
for  clearing  branches  from  the  wire,  as  the  extra  man 
at  the  reel,  or  as  additional  bar-men. 

In  a  camp  where  there  is  much  lance  construction,  a 
mounted  inspector  should  patrol  the  lines  at  least  once 
a  day.  He  should  respond  immediately  when  notified 
by  the  central  exchange  of  trouble  on  any  line.  His 
equipment  should  be  a  line-man's  outfit  and  a  short 
crow-bar  which  can  be  carried  in  a  carbine  boot. 

It  is  very  often  the  case  that  the  four-mule  army 
escort  wagon  is  used  as  a  lance  truck  as  well  as  for 
carrying  the  reel,  and  it  will  be  found  convenient  in 
operating  the  reel  to  place  it  across  the  wagon  box  (Fig. 
6).  This  gives  plenty  of  room  for  the  reel-men  to  work 
and  affords  a  place  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon  for  carry- 

11 


ing  about  one  hundred  lances.  A  hand  reel  fastened 
across  the  wagon  box  has  the  advantage  of  being  easily 
taken  off  to  "buck"  through  places  impassable  for  a 
wagon ;  however,  this  can  not  be  done  with  many  styles 
of  signal  corps  wire  wagons. 

Sandy  soil  presents  many  difficulties  to  telephone 
line  construction,  not  alone  from  the  unstability  of  the 
lances,  but  the  difficulty  of  making  good  ground  returns. 
It  requires  a  metallic  circuit  where  the  soil  is  sandy,  to 
give  good  service.  The  return  wire  should  parallel  the 
main  line  wire,  and  where  a  common  return  is  used  for 
several  lines,  such  lines  should  parallel  the  return  wire 
as  far  as  practicable  to  prevent  induction  and  "cross 
talk." 

Number  14  galvanized  iron  wire  is  the  most  suitable 
for  lance  line  construction.  The  same  size  of  copper 
may  be  used,  but  it  will  not  stand  the  hard  service  and 
twists,  like  the  iron  wire.  Wire  as  large  as  No.  9  may 
be  used,  but  is  too  large  to  pass  freely  through  "pig 
tail"  insulators,  and  in  pulling  taut,  the  poles  bend  out 
of  shape  and  the  hard  rubber  insulators  frequently 
break. 

The  methods  of  attaching  telephone  and  telegraph 
instruments  and  inside  wiring  at  central  stations  is  not 

12 


UNIVERSITY 

in  the  province  of  this  manual.  Lightning-arresters 
should  never  be  omitted,  as  lightning  might  unexpect- 
edly disable  a  system  beyond  repair  with  the  materials 
at  hand. 


TELEPHONE  EXCHANGE,  CAMP  COLUMBIA,  HAVANA,  CUBA. 


13 


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